New HIV diagnoses dropped by more than half since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for HIV-infected patients, a Canadian study shows, suggesting that the treatment was effective at reducing viral load.

The Obama administration on Tuesday committed itself to cutting the nation's stubborn HIV infection rate by 25% over the next five years.

There won't be any money earmarked to the new strategy, at least not yet, but it is a plan long in the making and will set some direction.

The goal is part of a new national HIV and AIDS strategy released by the White House. It seeks to stem the spread of the virus and extend effective AIDS drugs to more of the estimated 1.1 million Americans living with the disease.

he FDA has approved the first HIV test to detect the AIDS virus itself as well as antibodies to the virus.

Most currently used HIV tests detect anti-HIV antibodies. But it takes two to eight weeks -- 25 days on average -- for a person newly infected with HIV to make detectable antibodies. Meanwhile, that person is highly infectious to others.